Merits
by Jirubee
Summary: A playful conversation between friends leads to something more. One shot. Inuyasha/Kagome
AN: It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. It's been almost three whole years, but I came back. Sound familiar?

A lot happened in my life, and I'm grateful to still have it in me to continue loving this series and loving to write about it. It's gotten me through a lot of tough times and I'm sure it has for many of you.

I don't even know if anyone still really reads stories from this fandom, but they're here if you want them. And I still love you all for everything and the support you've given me throughout the years.

 _Merits._

The summer had come, bustling through on a heady rush of humidity and heat. The seasons had been tepid, not changing as much as they used to when she was young. Yet, Kagome sat, pressing her fingers over the thinness of her pale yellow cotton dress in a daze.

Her skin was dotted with freckles from the sun as she basked in its warmth. Beneath the trees, all listless like herself, she watched the rays flicker like dying candles as they peered through the canopy.

Sango lay beside her on a tattered blanket that the miko had brought from home, and given the muscular girl a dress of her own.

She was awkward, squirming about as though she were bare. It took some getting used to, wearing all of those futuristic garments and all. Yet, she remained content as the breeze kissed her skin in the early afternoon.

Kagome rolled an eye at the woman and sighed softly to herself. She knew that Miroku-sama would find his hands wound beneath the Taijiya's skirt before the end of the day, and it bemused her.

Sango-chan still feigned interest in the man, though Kagome knew better. The last venture to Kaede-bachan's Village had left more than a few brows raised. They had been caught behind the merchants hut with their clothing hanging about loosely.

She knew better than to bring it up in conversation without being provoked, because if the girl knew what she had done with the hanyou, she would never have heard the end of it.

Kagome ran a hand through her long hair, feeling the tangles from its thickness catch on her fingers. "Sometimes I wish I could cut all of this off and be free." She glowered, removing sweat from her brow.

Sango hushed her and waved a hand at the girl. "Let me fix it for you," she cooed, "It'll give me something to do until _they_ get back." Her face contoured with a mixture of delight and dread thinking about the men who would return from the mountains today.

They had been gathering wares and soothing shrines of their youkai for change and a few spare morsels of food, as they often did.

"Sango-chan, aren't you happy that Miroku-sama is coming home?" Kagome giggled childishly as she slid closer to her companion.

"Iie!" Sango piped, hear cheeks ruddy from flush. She pulled a little harder on the girl's hair than she meant to, causing a dainty yelp to erupt. "I have been perfectly fine without him!"

Kagome laughed, "You've been so antsy the past few days that I couldn't leave you alone. Miroku-sama will ruin that dress, and I like the pattern on that one." She teased, feeling the heaviness of her hair become lighter with each tug.

Sango glowered, "Hmph. I don't miss him and I don't need him, either. He's a pervert now and will always be one." She huffed, twitching her nose as she finished braiding the miko's hair. "Besides, we all know that you and Inuyasha are going to run off to god knows where."

Kagome's small hands clasped to her shoulders as she hunched over, shooting her friend and incredulous look. "I doubt that I'll be going anywhere with him! He's been such an ass to me that there's no way that I'd ever be that nice to him. Even if he wanted anything I had, I'd never give it to him." She blushed, finding it hard to hide in broad daylight.

Sango leaned back on her elbows, rolling her dark eyes as though she didn't know a thing. "Sure, Kagome-chan, we all know you go back to Tokyo to have alone time with him. Kaede-bachan thinks so too." She quipped darkly, finding it hard to remain straight faced.

Kagome shot up to her feet. "No. That's not true! He is a cruel, mean spirited, jerk! I don't even like him a little bit." Admittedly, she was drowning in her own childishness. She felt sophomoric, very pale and green of a sprout.

She knew better than to lie. Besides, Sango could see right through her. The two girls had shared intimate details of the others _relationships_ prior to and currently standing, with their traveling mates.

It was very idiotic for them to hide such things, but the illusion kept a lightness amongst the tumult of Sengoku Jidai. Boys were a topic every girl her age talked about, and now that she was a bit older and the world had blurred beyond the familiarity of her era, this was all she had.

This thankless facade that she placated with such inane simplicity was eagerly devouring her like Naraku's wants devoured the Shikon no Kakera.

Kagome let out a disgruntled sigh and held her palms against her face to keep herself in check. "He still loves Kikyo. You know this, I know this, she knows this, Naraku knows this, so on and so on."

Sango grinned cheekily and turned away to run her fingers down the bark of a withering pine. "Think what you want, but I saw something that I didn't want to see a few nights ago." She felt proud to have ammunition. It was very seldom that she did, but it felt satisfying. More often than not, she damned herself for not being cautious enough on her rendezvous with the Houshi. And somehow, she always reaped the reprocussions of her actions.

It was only fair.

The miko hesitantly furrowed her brows and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't know what to expect, but she suspected that she better start holding her ground before plummeting in a metaphorical sinkhole. "And," she inhaled deeply, staring down at her bare feet for balance. "What might that be, Sango-chan?"

The girl wiggled and sat up straight, as she smiled brightly at the girl. Her hands flailed awkwardly in excitement. She didn't know if it was more of an embarrassing topic, or enticing. It was gossip, as Kagome had called it and it was finally time to expose it. She could barely contain herself. "Well, I was getting ready to bathe and when I went to the pond, I saw Inuyasha. It was the night he was human, and he never heard me." She explained.

Kagome merely winced. She knew what was coming. She knew. Deep down in her bones, she knew what Sango was going to say.

 _That he had gone to see Kikyo and was all over her._

 _"_ I saw him," Sango stopped herself, and wriggled her hands and grimaced trying to make a gesture befitting of the incident, let alone having to live with seeing it. "And he was, you know, _taking care of himself_." She whispered, eyes wide as she tried to shake it from he memory.

Kagome's skin was instantly ablaze, red as a ripe apple. She felt nausea, her nerves dancing on their ends as she tried to warp the image in her head.

"Wh-what does that have to do with m-me?" She stammered, nervously plucking at the ends of her braid.

Sango looked away, chewing at her lower lip. "He, uh, he was talking about _you."_

In that moment, the entire world came crashing to a halt. Kagome's heart thrummed in her throat as her knees felt as though they would quake. She covered her ears and shivered. What was going on? What made him think that was okay? _But he was attracted to_ ** _her_**.

Sango smirked and covered her mouth as she giggled. They talked about many things in their time together and there should have been no shame. Yet, as her friend panicked, she peered past her as two figures came into the thicket.

Kirara followed close behind the men as they hauled their loot. Inuyasha's haori was slung across her back as he carried a woven basket of goods and wares. Sango felt her muscles tense as Kagome listlessly bounded around the tree line.

She gritted her teeth as she waved a hand trying to get the girl's attention. "Kagome-chan," she whispered.

Knowing all too well that the hanyou's ears would pick up on the distress, let alone his keen sense of smell, she reached up and slapped Kagome's leg.

The girl whipped around, muttering under her breath. When she looked up, she was met by a pair of tawny eyes peering shamefully down on her. Every ounce of her being became looser than the noodles she boiled in those cups.

Inuyasha flicked his wiry bangs from his eyes, and narrowly glared. "What's going on?" He rasped, studying the redness on the girl's face. He could feel the tension and placed the basket beside him.

Kagome tried to open her mouth, but was met by it shutting just as quickly.

Sango merely glanced at the train wreck and excused herself to definitely _not_ greet Houshi-sama. Even as Kagome shot her a traitorous glare, she smiled and carried on her motions as though she was oblivious to the world.

The silver haired boy hunkered down, slumped over the basket as he peered at the miko. He raised a hand and touched her forehead out of habit to check for any fever. The fever, in his mind, made her crazy.

She recoiled and didn't allow his hand to remotely touch her boiling skin. She felt faint from the anxiety of being so close to him. "Don't do that." She hissed, swatting her hands as though he had actually touched her.

"Keh." The boy scoffed, "I was gone for a few days and you're gonna act like you're not excited to see me?" He retorted smugly. He was sure that he'd be able to at least kiss her sans audience, or at least hold her. Even though he clearly did _not_ care about her in the slightest, or show her any affection.

It was usually innocent. Actually, he thought, as he watched her feet splay across the grass, it was completely innocent. He'd yet to find a way to have her to himself, and in that, she'd be his. And that was the question still lingering in the back of his mind.

Conversing in scathing remarks and sarcasm, they continue to ignore the awkwardness that consumed them.

At some point, naturally, the taijiya and the lecher and slipped away undetected; or so they thought.

Kagome shuddered at the chill of the evening as it hunkered down upon Nippon. She knew that they wouldn't be back until it was dark enough to be weary of what lurked amongst them. And in the quiet of the past month, compare to how tumultuous it was, she relished this.

The girl's gray eyes finally found the courage to let them fall upon that familiar curtain of silver as the evening sun lit it like fire. "You know you should be nicer to me," She said quietly, chewing at her lip as though she had done nothing wrong.

Inuyasha plopped his head to rest in his palm, watching her pittle around with a leaf she had picked up. "I'm assuming the cackling bitch told you?" He said plainly, seemingly unamused.

Kagome stopped and dropped her hands to her sides as the wind kicked around the hem of her dress. "Told me what?" She pouted, furrowing her dark brows as though she had been wounded. She knew he could see through the rouse and she relented.

"Heh. You know damn well what she told you. You both act like little girls. You're grown women." Inuyasha grunted, becoming increasingly bored.

"That's not true and you know it." She fumed. "Just because we don't talk about things that you're included in doesn't mean that we act like little girls."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, "You act like you don't know that I can hear you from the mountains." He gestured a clawed hand towards his pert ears and stayed surprisingly calm.

After all, Kagome was a firecracker. She was daft, absurdly intelligent, and very difficult. Somewhere over the years, the miko had taught him some patience and sometimes, like now, he utilized those tools, even though he really wanted to say a plethora of things.

A few wrong moves and he'd be one Osuwari away from knowing his ancestors. And he'd rather remain in one piece for the time being. His fingers did find themselves winding around the kotodama idly as he watched the way the dwindling light hit the paleness of her eyes. They sucked him in and he sighed. She didn't even realize how beautiful she was.

He was listening to her whining about this and that, dodging the question, everything she could think of to not respond.

And he merely watched her nose wrinkle and her mouth move slowly and deliberately. She could bore holes through him and she didn't understand that she was beyond him.

After a few more moments, he closed his eyes and shot up from his seat. His hands lightly gripped her wrists, as his pale hair fell around them, hiding her from the rest of the world.

He stared down at her as her bare back grazed the bark of the pine, and felt the heat from the day wither away as her own took its place. She swallowed hard, staring boldly into those amber eyes. She wasn't afraid of him anymore, and she held her breath the best she could.

His fingers could feel her pulse and she stood still as he pressed against her. The man's face was mere centimeters away from hers. She wanted to bridge the distance, yet refrained. His fangs peeked over his lip as he opened his mouth, barely grazing hers in the process.

"I know what she said." He rasped, feeling the girl tense. He was wanton with emotion and pressed against her enough to feel her shudder. "Next time why don't you come with me and I'll show you how I feel." Inuyasha gently nipped at the miko's lip and released her.

As he walked away, he heard her breathing raggedly in an attempt to catch her breath. The dewy evening air clung to her like a film as she traced her fingers over her swollen lips.

The boy turned around as he lifted the basket over his shoulder, "You should probably go home tonight for you're own good." He swallowed, casting her a dark glance. "There's a mangy wolf looking for you and I don't need him taking my woman again."

With that, he began his trek to Old Baba's village. Kagome followed suit as she heard lumbering in the thicket. She knew it was her companions and graciously saw the giant tear in her dress. Closing her eyes, she inhaled the night and relished in the feeling of being wanted.

And despite the rampant war, not only of her own, but of the country, and the one she fought so valiantly, she felt free amongst the rest of them. They all had wants, and needs, and wanted a very simple thing and that was to be loved.


End file.
